Looser rules are proposed for getting more ethnic food on Toronto’s streets as the failed A la Cart program ends.

Toronto is poised to see an explosion of varied street food, just as the disastrous “à la Cart” ethnic eats program is winding down.

Councillor Cesar Palacio, chair of the committee that regulates 130 food cart and truck operators, says he’ll push to end current restrictions that limit their offerings to hot dogs, French fries and the like.

“The city should not be in the business of telling people what to eat and what to prepare,” Palacio says.

“We should maybe regulate hours of operation and location and, of course, health and safety, but not the menu. I’ve had discussions with staff and I think that’s the direction we’re going to go.”

Palacio said he’ll consult all players before pushing council to make changes that could finally see Toronto join the North American explosion in exotic street eats — but could also trigger complaints from some restaurants.

His comments come before next week’s release of a consultant’s report, which he has not seen, with recommendations on the fate of the 3-year-old “à la Cart” pilot project. The scheme has floundered in red tape and complaints about the expensive, heavy and sometimes dangerous carts the city required vendors to use.

With the handful of remaining participants saying they have no hope of paying off their investments before the project ends this year, Palacio (Ward 17, Davenport) has asked city staff to look into transferring authority for them from the economic development division to licensing, so they can continue indefinitely in the same framework as other food vendors.

“We set these people up to fail in a two-tier system, and I don’t think it’s fair to just kick them out,” he said.

Councillor Michael Thompson, chair of economic development and a fellow member of the powerful executive committee that will receive the à la Cart report, supports that move and expanding all vendors’ offerings, “as long as we’re not putting them in front of restaurants to compete.”

A la Cart vendor Bridgette Pinder, 54, borrowed about $80,000 against her Mississauga house to pay for the hulking $30,000 cart, a trailer, a van to pull it and other expenses to sell healthy Caribbean fair at King and Bay Sts.

Struggling since the beginning, she has missed two mortgage payments and now faces losing her home.

“A house of cards collapsed — that’s what’s become of me,” Pinder said, adding she would like to get her cart out to earn some money, but can’t afford the ingredients. “My whole life is financially destroyed.”

Three vendors, including Kathy Bonivento, who has put away her souvlaki cart, wrote Mayor Rob Ford to plea for help in early February, and have yet to hear back.

She said Palacio’s plan won’t help them because they’re stuck with a 455-kilogram mandated cart that an ergonomics expert found, in a 20-page city-sponsored report, requires two men and a woman to wrangle.

“The cart isn’t safe and we aren’t willing to deal with constant injuries,” she said. “Our health is all we have left, so we need to protect that.”

Young Jin Kim and her family are the only à la Cart vendors reporting any level of success, after moving to a heavily Korean neighbourhood at Yonge St. and Finch Ave., buying an enclosure that let them operate all winter, and staying open from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. weekdays, to 1 a.m. on weekends.

Simon Kim said his mother would fight city hall if it tries to shut her down after the pilot project ends. “This is our only livelihood.”

Marianne Moroney, executive director of the Street Food Vendors Association, is heartened by the words coming out of city hall, saying her members are eager to offer more than dogs and chips even though it would mean investing in new carts with sinks and mechanical refrigeration.

“I’m completely hopeful” the Ford administration will open up a street food scene that’s being “strangled,” she said.

Under Ontario law, the city’s medical officer of health would have to approve street food not on the prescribed list that includes hotdogs. The health department declined to comment, saying officials are waiting to see the à la Cart consultant’s report.

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